This invention relates generally to electrical connectors and more particularly to electrical receptacle terminal assemblies.
Various insulated receptacle terminal assemblies or connectors have been devised for engaging a male terminal with a mating receptacle terminals. However, in the case of the tab receptacle terminal, once the is terminal is inserted into the connector body, internal projections within the connector body engage the tab receptacle terminal such that either withdrawal of the terminal from the body or further insertion is prevented.
A present technology electrical tab receptacle terminal connector with visually inspectable components is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 107,681, filed Oct. 13, 1987, owned by the assignee of this application and is incorporated herein by reference. The receptacle terminal connector described in application Ser. No. 107,681 allows the receptacle terminal to be extracted from the connector without the use of special tools thus allowing for visual inspection of the receptacle terminal and the internals of the connector.
In present technology tab receptacle terminal assemblies, a tab receptacle terminal is inserted within a terminal connector cavity and locked in place by an internal projection in the connector cavity. If an excessive pulling force is applied to the wire connected to the tab receptacle terminal, the projecting locking tab or retaining shoulder inside the connector may be sheared off. This will then allow the receptacle terminal to be "pushed out" of the connector block when insertion of a male tab terminal is attempted. This shearing of the locking projection and resultant pushout of the terminal from the connector body is the major problem in terminal connectors of this type, hence the visually inspectable feature.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved engagement of an inserted tab receptacle terminal within a tab receptacle terminal connector cavity.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a tab receptacle terminal connector wherein the tab receptacle terminals are easily removed.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a tab receptacle terminal connector having visually inspectable components.
The present invention eliminates the pushout problem of present tab receptacle connectors by providing a locking projection or retainer in the interior walls of the connector on each side of the inserted tab receptacle terminal. One of these projections is fixed, the other is part of a biased finger as in application Ser. No. 107,681. This biased finger is biased toward the inserted tab receptacle terminal thus ensuring firm engagement of the tab receptacle terminal with both locking projections because the locking projections project into apertures in the opposite faces of the inserted tab receptacle terminal.
An example of a suitable tab receptacle terminal which may be used in the present invention is more fully described in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 916,950 filed Oct. 8, 1986, owned by the assignee of this application and incorporated herein by reference.
A tab receptacle terminal fully inserted into the connector according to the present invention is firmly held in place. Insertion of the blade of a male tab terminal within the receptacle will cause a certain amount of force to be exerted against the locking projections. However, in the present invention, this force is transmitted to both projections thus permitting twice the total force to be applied without danger of shearing off the projections. This total force capability prior to shearing of the locking projections is much greater than the force required for blade insertion. In addition, normal anticipated tugging on connected wires will not cause shearing. Therefore the pushout problem is eliminated by the additional locking projections.